Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Late sister Justina Iipinge
A CATHOLIC nun was among the six people who lost their lives when two cars collided head-on between Onhokolo and Ombafi on Saturday night.
Sister Justina Iipinge (32), originally from Okando village in the Omusati region, was staying at the Etaka/Epalela Roman Catholic sub-station.
Sister Maria Paulus from Oshikuku, who heads the transport division of the Benedictine Sisters of Oshikuku, said the late sister Iipinge was stationed at the St Anselm Roman Catholic sub-station at Etaka/Epalela near Ruacana, where she headed a vegetable and fruit project.
Paulus said Iipinge, who just completed her last vows earlier this year, was a hardworking and dedicated young sister.
“We lost a hardworking, peaceful and dedicated sister who was never selfish and had assisted everyone equally,” she said.
“Our agricultural project at Etaka was flourishing because of her, not to speak about the spiritual work at the mission. It will be very difficult to fill the gap left by her. We are all looking up and praying to our Almighty to give us a person like sister Iita again. She was wonderful; someone who cared about everybody, and she obeyed her vows,” Paulus added.
Hours before her death on Saturday, Iita brought a lot of vegetables to Oshikuku and the surrounding areas, where she sold them to the community before she went to visit her mother at Okando village. Unfortunately, her mother was not at home.
“I think, without knowing, that she went to say 'bye' to her mother, but her mother was not at home at the time,” Paulus said.
Teofilia Gabriel, one of Iipinge's aunts, said “we gave her to the church to serve God, and she died while serving God's people”.
Text and Image shared from The Namibian